Dad Shares Final Beer With Sons in Photo Taken Hours Before His Death

By R.J. Johnson - @rickerthewriterNov 27, 2019

A father's final wish to share a beer with his three sons before his death from cancer has prompted an outpouring of support and love on Twitter, after the man's grandson posted the photo to Twitter. The intimate moment and display of love resonated with thousands of other users on the social media platform.

Norbert Schemm died last week after he was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer. According to his grandson, Adam Schemm, the family gathered together in the hospital the night before Norbert passed away. The 87-year-old just had one final request: He wanted to share a beer with his three sons, Bob, Tom and John.

The photo shows the moment as Norbert, holding his wife Joanne's hand, and his three sons share two bottles of Bud Light.

Adam Schemm tweeted the photo out the very next day, writing: "My grandfather passed away today. Last night all he wanted to do was to have one last been with his sons."

The moment resonated with hundreds of thousands of users, as the tweet went viral, racking up more than 329,000 likes and 32,000 retweets. The touching moment prompted other people to share their own final moments with loved ones, with one person sharing how he helped his grandfather have a final cigar and beer.

"It just seemed like a really good family moment and you can kind of see the look and the smile on his face," Adam Schemm said, USA Today reported. "I can tell my grandfather's smiling, at least trying to. They all are accepting what's going to happen but they really cherish this last moment that meant a lot to them."

Norbert married his wife, Joanne 65 years ago and had four children over the course of their marriage. The three sons, and a daughter, Paula, who was behind the camera and took the photo.

"It's really good to talk about my grandfather and the life that he lived," Adam said. "He was such a kind man and had high integrity, high character.

"And I haven't taken off the notifications on my phone. I still like seeing those pop up and reading comments and all that type of stuff. It's comforting seeing the comments and what the photo has meant to people, and people who've had similar situations and it kind of just restores faith in humanity where a moment like this can connect people."